The PhD programme in the Business School at Bangor has been described by external experts as ’second to none in the UK’. Our role of PhD throughput is amongst the highest in the UK and we have ESRC recognition for our research training (MSc to PhD) in Management and Business as well as Economics. Our current and recent PhD students are a lively and friendly community. Their areas of research interest are as diverse and interesting as their backgrounds.

PhD Pathways

We have four exciting PhD pathways which link to our research themes and clusters. You can find out more about each of our pathways below. Each link provides specific information on topics that are of current interest to our staff as well as the staff that have current availability to supervise you in these areas. Don’t forget that you can find more information about our staff by looking at their individual staff profile which also has more possible PhD topics provided.

• PhD pathway in accounting
• PhD pathway in consumer behaviour
• PhD pathway in credit and uncertainty
• PhD pathway in financial services

Application

As part of the application process for a research degree, you will be asked to submit a research proposal. This should be relevant to the research interests and expertise of staff members, as these are the areas in which we can offer supervision. We therefore recommend that applicants refer to our Business School staff pages before preparing a research proposal.

The research proposal should be between 1,500 and 2,500 words, and should outline the following:

• Provisional title
• Central question or hypothesis for investigation
• Key aims of the research
• Literature review
• Description of your topic
• Methodology – how you will answer the research question
• Bibliography
• Timetable

Programme Length

A PhD degree is usually 3 years full-time, or 5-6 years part-time. Candidates are expected to present the results of their research in a 100,000-word thesis which represents a significant original contribution to knowledge in the subject area studied, and to undergo a viva voce examination.

An MPhil (Master of Philosophy) degree is usually 2 years full-time, or 3 years part-time. Candidates must successfully complete an approved programme of supervised research, and present their results in a thesis of up to 60,000 words.

Our postgraduate research programmes in Accounting, Banking and Finance are long established and globally recognised. You are exposed to a range of Accounting and Finance tools and techniques along with a rigorous academic foundation and our academic staff are passionate about key questions affecting modern economies.